The Fruit Machine (1988)

Director:

Philip Saville

Writer:

Frank Clarke (writer)

Release Date:

9 November 1989 (Australia)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Two gay teenagers go on the run after witnessing a murder.

Plot Keywords:

Gay | Dolphin | Gay Teenager | Hustler | Homosexual

Cast

Emile Charles	...	Eddie
Tony Forsyth	...	Michael
Robert Stephens	...	Vincent
Clare Higgins	...	Eve
Bruce Payne	...	Echo
Robbie Coltrane	...	Annabelle
Carsten Norgaard	...	Dolphin Man
Kim Christie	...	Jean
Louis Emerick	...	Billy
Joseph Carrington	...	Ray
Julie Graham	...	Hazel
Paula Ann Bland	...	Beverley
Niven Boyd	...	Dave
Claire Parker	...	Young Jean
Caroline Milmoe	...	Lillie
Forbes Collins	...	John Schlesinger
Malcolm Frederick	...	Truck Driver
Albie Woodington	...	P.C. - Brighton
James McMartin	...	P.C. - Fruit Machine
Paul Netterfield	...	D.J. - Fruit Machine
Jason Conliffe	...	1st Lad - Fruit Machine
Mark Birch	...	2nd Lad - Fruit Machine
Anton Brookes	...	Thug
Mandy Walsh	...	Fat Woman At Party
David Baukham	...	Security Man
Liz Stooke	...	T.V. Reporter

Directed by
Philip Saville

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Frank Clarke		writer

Produced by
Steve Morrison	....	producer

Original Music by
Hans Zimmer

Cinematography by
Dick Pope

Film Editing by
Richard Bedford

Production Design by
David Brockhurst

Costume Design by
Maggie Hayes

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gerry Gavigan	....	first assistant director
Nick Heckstall-Smith	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Duncan Wheeler	....	production buyer

Sound Department
Tony Jackson	....	sound mixer

Visual Effects by
Janek Sirrs	....	digital artist

Camera and Electrical Department
Phillip Contomichalos	....	clapper loader
John Parsons	....	gaffer
Mark White	....	camera car grip

Music Department
Don Gallacher	....	music consultant
Geoff Hogg	....	music editor

Other crew
Peter Bloom	....	dolphin trainer
Simon McNair Scott	....	location manager
Kate Merrin	....	runner
Richard Morrison	....	title designer
Libbie Roberts	....	disco dance advisor

Production Companies

• Granada Television
• Ideal Communications Films

Distributors

• PRO-FUN media Filmverleih (2009) (Germany) (all media)
• Vestron Pictures (1988) (UK) (theatrical)
• Vestron Pictures (1989) (USA) (theatrical)
• Vestron Video International (1989) (UK) (VHS)
• Vestron Video

Special Effects

• Computer Film Company, The (CFC) (morphing)

Other Companies

• Lee Lighting  lighting

Also Known As:

Wonderland

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Australia:M | USA:R | West Germany:16 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK

Company:

Granada Television

Quotes:

[after seeing his buddy, who protests that he is NOT a rent boy get out of a car driven by an older man]
Eddie: Who's he?
Michael: It's, eh, my uncle.
Eddie: Uncle who?
Michael: It's my uncle Dick. Yeah, that's right. My Uncle Dick.

Movie Connections:

References Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960)

Soundtrack:

You think you're a man

"You think you're a man"

The film "Wonderland" (aka "The FruitMachine") is a surprisingly dippy, imaginative romp involving two gay teenaged boys who happen to witness a gangland murder and are forced to flee Liverpool for Brighton. The film takes many inventive turns, several of which involve Eddie's dream lover, a man-dolphin hybrid who actually appears at crucial moments in the film to save Eddie and his partner, Michael. There are many subplots and colorful supporting characters, and the ending, albeit sad, is inevitable. It's worth it if only for the dance sequence at the Fruit Machine, a gay showbar in Liverpool, in which Michael competes for thirty quid. His dance is both erotic and touchingly naive. Both boys, Emile Charles and Tony Forsyth, should have had big careers in film. Apart from one distracting editing lapse that blunts the finale, this is a superior film, in that it refuses to indulge in stereotyping and doesn't condescend to its lead characters.